The need to replace all our current federal and state elected Freeborn County office holders is evident as we look at the Minnesota situation in the early to mid-1960s. New federal and state office holders are needed to represent Freeborn County today.

In the early 1960s there was no Minnesota sales tax. The state budget was less than $1 billion. SLA-CLA tuition at the University of Minnesota was between $100 and $125 a quarter. Lunch at McDonald’s in the Twin Cities — fries were 10 cents, hamburgers 15 cents and shakes 20 cents. There was a nonpartisan state legislative ballot.

The choice for Minnesota public employees, no forced fee! Merit system, meet and confer on labor issues, good pensions, health care, etc. Education had AFT-MFT craft origins, NEA-MEA EA professional origins. NEA-MEA EA dues were $25 a year. Choice!

Public sector big labor bosses, instead of seeking choice for private employees, envied the private sector labor bosses’ money and power from forced fees and monopoly bargaining. In the early 1970s public labor bosses got forced fees and monopoly bargaining. Now public education forced fee dues are today often 25 to 40 times mid-1960s dues. The state legislative ballot is partisan. The state budget is about $40 billion or 40 times the mid-’60s.

Keeping government as well as private costs down helps all persons as we look at the early 1960s when poor people make $1,200 a year, average persons $6,000 and well-off $12,000 a year. Now poor people make $12,000 a year but well-off make over $120,000. Fifty years ago a $10,000, now $100,000. We also see that the well-off often marry each other and have kids when older and stay married.

A great Democrat president, Grover Cleveland, said, “It is the duty of the people to support the government not the government to support the people.” Let us all think and consider all of the above as our youth are often much worse off today than in the 1960s. We need change. Let us start with replacing Freeborn County’s state and federal incumbents in November 2014.

 

Tom Schleck

Albert Lea